Film-insertion device.



B M. DICKSON.

FILM INSERTION DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-2.1916.

1 32,900 Patented July 10, 1917.

Fig.1,

BENJAMIN M. DICKSON, OF VIROQUA, WISCONSIN.

FILM-INSEBTION DEVICE.

Application filed December 2, 1916.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN M. DICK- soN, a citizen of the United States, resident of Viroqua, in the county of Vernon and tate of lVisconsin, have made a certain new and useful Invention in Film-Insertion Devices; and I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the rack and of the film insertion device engaged with the rack preliminary to inserting the films.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical transverse section on the line 2-2, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the rack, showing a film in dotted lines.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front view of a lower corner of the film insertion device.

Fig. 5 is a similar view of the rack.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a blank for the film insertion device.

The invention has relation to means for facilitating the insertion of photographic s in position in a rack or film holder, said rack adapted to be placed in a developing tank and being substantially shown and described in my eo-pending application filed October 7, 1916 S. No. 124,342, lacking however certain modifications to be described herein.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts, as hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the invention, the numeral 2 designates the rack, having vertical J-form film-holding bars 3, opposite of said bars being spaced apart by a distance less than the breadth of the film, so that the film when inserted at the edges within the grooves l of said bars will be caused to assume a concavo convex form, for reasons stated in my said application.

The rack is provided at the top with parallel side plates 5, projecting above the tops of the film-holding bars 3, the lnner surfaces of the side plates being spaced apart from the outer surfaces of the bars 3 by intervals 6.

The film insertion device is designated by Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 10, 1917.

Serial No. 134,704.

the numeral 7, and is usually of skeleton form, being provided with upper and lower frame bars 8 and side frame bars 9, the latter being of U form. At the lower end of this device are projections 10, usually also of U form and designed to engage over the upper ends of opposite of the film holding bars 3, the intervals 6 between said bars and the side plates being just sulficient to allow said projections to be easily inserted therein and removed therefrom, said projections having lateral contact with said plates to prevent lateral movement of the film insertion device, once it is engaged with the bars 3.

This device being engaged with opposite of the bars 3, as stated, the films may now be inserted, and, beginning with the first pair of bars 3, the film to be inserted therein is engaged at one lateral ed e portion thereof with the guide groove of one of the side bars 9, and then pressed fiatwise to cause the film to assume concavo-convex form to a greater extent than the film will finally assume when engaged with the filmholding bars of the rack, the distortion of the film being limited by the top frame bar 8, said top frame bar being of a horizontally bent arcuate form and of a greater degree of concavity at the inner side thereof than the concavity of the film when engaged with the rack. In this way the other lateral edge portion of the film will be withdrawn from the entrance of the guide groove of the other side bar 9, so that, upon release of the fiatwise pressure upon the film, it will be enabled to be easily engaged with the guide groove of said other bar, the engagement being facilitated by the inherent elasticity of the film, seeking to assume its normal plane form. The film being now engaged with the guide grooves of both side bars of the device 7, is slid downwardly in said grooves into engagement with the grooves of the rack bars, the grooves of the side bars 9 and the grooves of the rack bars 3 being alincd, and the upper edges of the rack bars being beveled at 1,1 to facilitatcthe operation.

It being now desired to place the second film in the next adjacent pair of rack bars, the film insertion device is lifted until the projections 10 thereof are disengaged from the rack bars, said projections being still held from lateral movement by the side plates 5, and being slid with a slight down ward pressure over the tops of the first pair of rack bars, into line with the second pair thereof, the device will move downwardly and engage the projections thereof with the second pair of rack bars.

The second or next film being placed in the rack in the same way, the procedure is continued as stated until the rack is filled with the films, the rack being then placed in the developing tank.

The invention is adapted for use in a dark room, or through sense of touch only.

Preferably the frame bars of both loading device and rack are provided with reversely bent or turned edges, and the upper frame bars 8 and the side plates 5 of the rack are made in one piece, as are also the lower frame bars 12 and the lower side plates 13 of the rack.

Laterally projecting pins 14 are provided upon the side plates 5, to prevent the bailform handle from dropping down when the rack is located in the tank.

I claim:

1. The combination with a rack having film-holding bars provided with longitudinal grooves, of a film insertion device having side pieces provided with longitudinal open-end grooves in alinement with the grooves of the rack bars, and lower projeciions fitting over the tops of opposite rack ars.

2. The combination with a. rack having film-holding bars provided with longitudinal grooves, of a film insertion device having side pieces provided with longitudinal open-end grooves in alinement with the grooves of the rack bars, and lower projections fitting over the tops of opposite rack bars, said rack having means engaging said projections to prevent lateral movement of said device.

3. The combination with a rack having film-holding bars provided with longitudinal grooves, the inner walls of the grooves of opposite rack bars being spaced apart by a. distance less than the breadth of a film, of a film insertion device having side pieces provided with longitudinal open-end grooves in alinement with the grooves of the rack bars, and lower projections fitting over the tops of opposite rack bars, said device having arcuate transverse connections forsaid side pieces.

4-. The combination with a rack having film-holding bars provided with longitudinal grooves, of a film insertion device having side pieces provided with longitudinal open-end grooves in alinement with the grooves of the rack bars, and lower projections fitting over the tops of opposite rack bars, said rack having side plates projecting above the rack bars and engaging said projections to prevent lateral movement of said device.

5. A film insertion device for film-holding racks, comprising side pieces provided with longitudinal open-end grooves, lower grooved projections, and transverse arcua-te connections for said side pieces.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

BEN. M. DICKSON.

Witnesses:

VVM. F. LINDEMANN, J r., S. A. FARR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

